Apparatus for changing spools on a shaft



J 2 1959 J. P. s. E. GARNIER 3,424,393

APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPOOLS ON A SHAFT r'iled 'Dea 14, 1956 Sheet of 2 INVENTOR ||1|||||| JEAN P.G. E. GARNIER ATTORNEY 28, p GARNER 3,424,398

APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPOOLS ON A SHAFT Filed Dec. 14, 1966 FIG. 5

Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR JEAN P.G.E., GARNIER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,424,398 APPARATUS FOR CHANGING SPOOLS ON A SHAFT Jean Pierre Gabriel Ernest Garnier Bellevue, France, as-

signor to Novacel S.A., Paris, France, a corporation of France Filed Dec. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 601,585 Claims priority, application France, Dec. 16, 1965,

US. Cl. 242 s1 Int. Cl. B21c 47/28 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention concerns an apparatus for mounting empty spools on and stripping filled spools from a take-up shaft of a cutting machine of the Harnden type where a thin strip of material of considerable width is unwound and then divided into bands which are rewound on two groups of cardboard take-up spools ar ranged alternately on two parallel take-up shafts.

The take-up shaft carries a set of spool-carrying rings with shoulders effecting the lateral spacing of the spools and knurled conical rings for the bearing contact of the spools on the spool-carrying rings and whose conicity makes it possible to absorb a certain amount of variations in the width of the spools. Intermediate spacing rings are keyed to and driven by the shaft. The cardboard spools are driven with the spool-carrying rings by the friction between the spacing rings and the spool-carrying rings, thus permitting rotation of the spools relative to one another and freedom of drive for each spool.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for simplifying and mechanizing the operations of mounting and stripping the cardboard take-up spools in cutting machines of the Harnden type. These operations become very rapid owing to the elimination of any manual manipulation of rings during such operation. Also, by means of the apparatus according to the present invention, the disadvantages of variations in spacing due to wear on the rings, produced by driving friction, are also obviated.

The invention relates to an apparatus for the simultaneous mounting and stripping of spools on take-up shafts for cutting machines of the above type.

In one embodiment the apparatus comprises a working table with a guideway for a carriage carrying a split shell with spaced annular recesses constituting housings for empty spools. The take-up shaft, with the spool-carrying rings and spacing rings, is inserted into the empty spools in these housings as the shell is advanced along the working table. As the carriage is displaced, a stripper strips the filled spools from the takeup shaft onto a receiving arm in alignment with the take-up shaft while the shaft is being inserted into the empty spools in the shell.

The nature of the invention will be better understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which specific embodiments have been set forth for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section illustrating the arrangement of the apparatus;

Patented Jan. 28, 1969 "ice FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the apparatus; and

FIGS. 4 to 8 are diagrammatic views illustrating the different positions of the parts during a cycle of operation.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a fixed bed 6 with guideway 6a. This bed comprises, at one side, a bracket 7 for a receiving arm 8 mounted at one end. The other end of this arm 8 comprises a flat portion 8a. A carriage 9 is adapted to be displaced on the guideway 6a and a split shell 10 is mounted on the carriage. The latter also carriers a stripping plate 11.

According to FIGS. 1 and 2, a spool-carrying take up shaft 5 is formed with a longitudinal keyway 12. Mounted on the shaft are carrier rings 4 with bosses 13, alternating with spacing rings 1, carrying studs 14 which engage the keyway 12. The rotational movement of the shaft 5 causes rotation of the spacing rings 1. Also a spring, not shown, disposed at the end of the shaft 5 applies compressive force to the rings in co-operation with an opposite shoulder 5' carried by the shaft. The rings 4 are thus frictionally driven by the spacing rings 1. The sets of rings 1 and 4 remain assembled on the shaft 5 during the spool-changing operations. Cardboard-carrier spools 15 fit onto bosses 13 of the rings 4.

The shell 10 having two symmetrical parts 16 and 16 is placed on the carriage 9 as shown in FIG. 3. The two halves 16 and 16' of the shell are provided internally with grooves 17. These two halves can be associated by hinge means or by any other means. The grooves 17 serve to center these spools 15, the ends of which bear on the flanks of the grooves 17. The grooves between the flanks have a width which is approximately equal to the width of the band which is to be wound.

The shell 10 rests on two bearing brackets 18 and 19 at its ends. For this purpose, the bearing brackets comprise semi-cylindrical recesses. Provided in the underside of the base 20 of the bearing bracket 18 and in the underside of the base 21 of the bearing bracket 19 are cylindrical holes 22 and 23. The carriage 9 is also provided with cylindrical studs 24 and 25 corresponding to the holes 22 and 23 in the bases. This permits the shell with its bearing brackets to be positioned rapidly when a shell is replaced by another of different dimensions, for accommodating spools of a different length. The studs 24 and 25 can be locked in the holes if desired by means of suitable locking bolts.

The movements of the carriage and consequently of the shell can be effected by a pneumatic jack attached to the guideway bed. The openings and closings of the shell can be effected also by two pneumatic jacks. A suitable lever mechanism can associate the opening of the shell and a slight disengagement of the take-up shaft in order to facilitate its manipulation and to obviate displacement of the cardboard spools during such manipulation.

One of the features of the invention is the use of a slight elastic deformation of the cardboard spools by the rings provided with bosses, on which they are fitted. This deformation giving an adequate clamping effect to hold the cardboard spools in position on the support rings during the operations of cutting and re-winding but permitting the sliding of the cardboard spools on the bosses for the mounting and stripping operations.

Another feature of the invention is that the centering of the cardboard spools on the support rings is obtained at the end of travel of the carriage by the relative position of the shell and the take-up shaft.

In operation the empty spools are placed in the shell. The carriage with the fitted shell is then displaced on the guideway towards a take-up shaft carrying wound spools. The stripping plate of the carriage, as it advances, engages and strips the wound spools carrying wound bands E and stacks them together on the receiving arm 8. At the same time the take-up shaft from which the spools have been stripped enters the shell and the empty spools are centered on the take-up shaft. The shell is opened and the take-up shaft carrying the empty spools is extracted to be positioned on the cutting machine. The spools provided with wound bands are withdrawn from the receiving arm.

This sequence is illustrated diagrammatically in FIGS. 4 to 8. v

In FIG. 4 the carriage 9 carrying the shell 10 provided with empty spools 15 is at the left-hand end of the guideway 6a. A take-up shaft is aligned axially with the central duct of the shell and rests at the left on the stripping plate and at the right against the flat 8a of the receiving arm 8.

In FIG. 5 the carriage 9 has partly carried out its travel towards the right on the guideway. The stripping plate 11 has begun to strip the spools 15 carrying the wound bands E. The free end of the shaft 5 has, at the same time, entered in the shell 10 and the empty spools therein.

In FIG. 6 the carriage 9 has arrived at the end of its travel. The shaft 5 has been inserted into the empty spools and the filled spools 15 have been stacked on the receiving arm 8.

In FIG. 7 the shell has been opened, the shaft 5 is lifted in the direction of the arrow F and is ready to be placed on the cutting machine. Empty spools 15 have been placed in the grooves 17 of the lower half-shell 16', as shown by arrows F".

Finally, in FIG. 8 the carriage 9 is returned to its initial position and is ready for a new cycle. The pack of wound bands E on the spools 15 is released from the receiving arm 8 and is lifted in the direction of the arrow F for the conditioning of the windings.

The mechanical means for these operations are not illustrated and pneumatic jacks may be used as already indicated but other manual or automatic means may be used, if desired. Automatic programming can be provided for controlling the different movements.

The spool-carrying and spacing rings are selected in accordance with the size of the cardboard spool. The spacing of the spools from one another is not effected by the stacking of the rings on the take-up shaft but by the bearing faces of the grooves formed within the shell which makes them independent of the wear on the rings which is caused by the friction occurring during driving.

In order to be able to use spools of rigid material such as spools of plastic material, the spool-carrying rings may be formed as rigid rings provided with bosses of deformable material. The sliding of the spools over the bosses can then be effected by the elastic deformation of the bosses and not by the elastic deformation of the cardboard spools.

What is claimed is: 1. Apparatus for changing spools, comprising a shaf carrying a set of filled spools, a shell having a set of recesses adapted to receive and position a set of empty spools, a carriage supporting said shell for reciprocating movement, a stripping plate moveable with said carriage 'in advance of said shell, a receiving arm in axial alignment with the recesses of said shell, said receiving arm and said stripping plate being spaced when said carriage is retracted to receive and support opposite ends of said shaft carrying a set of filled spools with the free end of said shaft in alignment with said recesses, said stripping plate being adapted when said carriage is advanced to engage and strip the filled spools from said shaft onto said receiving arm while the free end of said shaft enters the recesses and the empty spools carried therein for receiving said set of empty spools.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said shell is split and is adapted to be opened for the removal of the shaft carrying the empty spools.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said shaft carries a set of spool-carrying ring and a set of spacing rings therebetween of smaller diameter than said carrying rings, means fixing said spacing rings to rotate with said shaft and friction means interconnecting said rings whereby the carrying rings are frictionally driven by said spacing rings.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which said carrying rings include resilient bosses adapted to grip the bore of said spools.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which spaced brackets support said shell and means including positioning pins on said carriage is provided for removably fixing said brackets to said carriage.

6. A shaft adapted to carry a set of readily changeable spools, said shaft having a longitudinal keyway, a set of spool-carrying rings disposed on said shaft, a set of spacing rings therebetween having means engaging said keyway for rotation with said shaft, means clamping said rings together for frictional driving engagement whereby the carrying rings are frictionally driven by said shaft through said spacing rings, said carrying rings being adapted to carry and drive the spools mounted thereon.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which said spacing rings are of smaller diameter than said carrying rings whereby said spools may be axially stripped thereover.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,185,360 1/1940 Talbot 24281 NATHAN L. MINTZ, Primary Examiner. 

